Working in steel, local artist Danny Ivanovski has transformed it from an element of destruction to creation in his series exploring the history of a rainforest tree.
"My final sculpture is a red cedar tree stump that I fabricated by cutting, bending, and heat-treating the mild steel. This was the very material that was used by the Cedar Getters to cut down these trees,” he said.
Titled In Memory of Red Cedar, his thought-provoking piece has been selected for 2025’s Sculpture in the Garden exhibition, which opens at Wollongong Botanic Garden in April.
Danny is no stranger to commendation. He won the People’s Choice Award for his work Memorial for Black Summer at Sculpture in the Garden 2023 (read more about that here) and for Dangling in the Wind at the Nan Tien Temple. His work Wondering Through the Mist, which used handmade ochre and charcoal ink, was a finalist in the Fisher’s Ghost Art Award and the Goulburn Art Award.
Danny is a multi-media artist working in steel sculpture, photography and landscape painting and drawing. At the heart of his work, and even in some of his work through natural pigments that he has collected from the local environment, is his own deep connection to nature and the landscape.
“I’ve always had a deep passion for being a good steward for our natural environment,” Danny said. “For me, the landscape is not something to use or exploit but rather I have a connection with it. It’s part of who I am in the place where I live, therefore I want to respect and care for it.”
Creativity has always been a part of Danny’s life; he fell in love with art at the age of three and decided to pursue a career as an artist in Year 7. Nowadays he works as a Visual Arts Teacher.
“Just as my high school teachers and university lecturers nurtured my passion for the arts, I too am dedicated to helping young people develop their own creative talents and discover their own artistic voice," Danny said.
There’s a certain balance he needs to find in creating many of his pieces. In Memory of Red Cedar is a tribute to the magnificent trees that once thrived in local rainforest.
“Their loss forever changed the Illawarra landscape, so I felt moved to reflect on this history through research and art-making,” he said.
To connect with the red cedars, Danny walked through the Illawarra escarpment, photographing where they once stood. “I would often imagine the towering presence of the red cedar trees that once dominated the landscape but are now lost.
“That sense of absence moved me to create a memorial in the form of a red cedar stump. I felt moved to acknowledge their significance to invite us to reflect on how the Illawarra landscape has changed.
And while that loss could be overwhelming, Danny said he finds real wellbeing benefits from being surrounded by nature as he conducts research for his projects.
"Being out in nature and observing the landscape has a huge impact on my overall wellbeing. It allows me to slow down, pause and reflect on the beauty of the Australian landscape, especially here in the Illawarra where I live and work.
“Through my art, I hope to encourage others to reflect on their own connection with the landscape, the importance of caring for it and the impact that it has on our wellbeing.”
You can follow Danny’s work on his Instagram and find Sculpture in the Garden details in the Flame's community calendar
